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People and Scenes in Assam 


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Acknowledgment 


HIS sketch was prepared by Rev. E. G. Phillips, 
D.D., and Rev. M. C. Mason, D.D., of our mission 


at Tura, Assam. The photographs from which 
the illustrations were made were fumished by our 
missionaries. 


Adiitional Information 


OR the further study of Baptist missions in Assam, 
k reference should be had to the current numbers of 
The Baptist Missionary Magazine, the Annual 
Report and the Handbook. Several helpful leaflets are 
also available, among which should be mentioned, “ The 
Gospel Among the Garos.” Books on Assam are few. 
The best is “A Comer in India,” by Mrs. E. W. Clark, 
a bright, interesting account of mission work among the 
Nagas. 


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Temple, Treasury and Courthouse, Sibsagor 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


INTRODUCTION 


SSAM is a country full of interest. Its 
location, both geographical and _politi- 
cal; its history, ancient and modern; 
its people, with the surrounding nations, 
and its religions, — each has an attract- 
ive interest, as does also its opportuni- 
ties for ethnological, philosophical and 
natural history research. To the chil- 
dren of God, of special interest is the 
history, present condition and outlook 
of the Kingdom in that land: Of deep interest, too, 
is its location. The northeastern frontier province of 
the Indian Empire, it is an important piece of growing 
Christian civilization thrust up to the very entrance of 
that long closed land, Tibet, and also ready to make 
a flank movement on northern Burma, and through that 
country upon western China. From near Sadiya in upper 
Assam the lowest and most practicable pass of the 
whole range penetrates the Himalayas into Tibet, through 
which already the Indian Government has been urged 
to construct a railway. Christian civilization, aided by 
the telegraph and railway from the sea to upper Assam, 
and by an efficient daily service of dispatch boats and 
a fleet of freight steamers on the Brahmaputra, is push- 
ing up to the very gateway of central Asia. 


5 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


Assam is also of no mean importance as concerns India 
as a whole, for it isa part of the new province of Eastern 
Bengal and Assam,* the forming of which has made 
Bengal a storm-center of unrest. The Assam Mission 
therefore occupies a most strategic position. 


THE COUNTRY 


Assam contains 56,243 square miles of territory and 
consists of two large valleys, the Brahmaputra to the 
north and the Surma to the south, with the Assam range 
of mountains between them and parallel to the Hima- 
layan range. The name ‘‘Assam”’ was originally applied 
to the valley of the Brahmaputra alone, as this only was 
under the ahom, or Assam kings. This valley is mostly 
an alluvial plain, with many abrupt hills breaking its 
surface, like the peaks of submerged mountains. It is 
about 450 miles long, with an average breadth of fifty 
miles. The Brahmaputra is navigable the whole year 
by large steamers to Dibrugarh, a mighty river forming 
a natural highway for the extensive commerce of the 
province. For the greater part of its course it flows 
between sandy banks, and the bed is constantly shifting 
within a belt of about six miles on either side. It is fed 
by many affluents from both sides, many of which are 
navigable in the rainy season by small steamers, and at 
all seasons by native boats. This valley is said to con- 
tain more rivers (sixty in all) than any other country of 
corresponding size in the world. 

The Surma or Southern Valley is in area barely one 
third of the Brahmaputra Valley, and is a network of 
sluggish, deltaic streams which by deposit are constantly 
elevating the lands nearest their banks. These are the 
abode of a dense population. | 

The Assam range of mountains, in reality a spur of the 
Himalayas, extends from the bend in the Brahmaputra, 
where it turns toward the sea, to the mountains of 
* In 1905 the old province of Assam was_united with a portion of Bengal, and 
the whole province is now named Eastern Bengal and Assam. Our missions are 
all in the part formerly called Assam, and unless otherwise indicated the term 


Assam ’’ is used in this sketch as meaning the smaller territory formerly called 
by that name. 


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northern Burma and western China, and divides the two 
valleys. It rises in the Garo Hills to about 4,600 feet 
above sea level, in the Khasi Hills to 6,450 feet, and in 
the Naga Hills reaches nearly 10,000 feet in Japvo peak, 
which overhangs Kohima. 

For administrative purposes Assam is divided into 
fourteen districts. Beginning at the west we have, in the 
Brahmaputra Valley, Goalpara, Kamrup, Nowgong, 
Darrang, Sibsagor and Lakhimpur; in the hills, Garo 
Hills, Khasi and Jaintia Hills, North Cachar, Naga Hills, 
Manipur and Lushai Hills; in the Surma Valley, Sylhet 
and Cachar. The Lushai Hills are south of the Surma 
Valley. 

Although Assam lies wholly in the temperate zone, it 
has a tropical climate and tropical vegetation and animal 
life. It has two seasons, a monsoon season from May to 
October, when there is abundance of rain and the atmo- 
sphere is warm, damp and enervating, and a cooler and 
dry season, with little rain and almost uninterrupted 
sunshine, save as heavy morning fogs prevail along the 
main rivers. This season gives a cool, more bracing 
atmosphere, much more healthful than the summer 
months. The average rainfall is about 113 inches for the 
year, with the highest record for the world at Cherra- 
poonjee, a village on the southern face of the central 
range. 

The open plains of the Surma Valley and of the upper 
part of the Brahmaputra Valley are generally considered 
to be healthful, favorable for habitation by Europeans, as 
are also the higher parts of the central range. But fora 
great part of the province the climate is malarious and 
favorable to tropical diseases. Much, however, of the 
unhealthfulness is due to the unsanitary habits of the 
people. With the spread of education and the recogni- 
tion of the first principles of cleanliness and sanitation, 
and especially of a conscience that will regard the inter- 
ests of others as well as their own present convenience, 
there will doubtless be a great improvement in the 
healthfulness of the province. 


8 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


THE PEOPLE 


The population, according to the last census, that of 
1901, numbered 6,126,343 for Assam. This is distrib- 
uted as follows: 


Surma Valley : : : : . 2,656,629 
Brahmaputra Valley . : : oy 2.019.077 
Hill Districts : : : ; 850,637 


Over eighty-five per cent. of these were censused as 
engaged in agriculture. Less than three per cent. of the 
people live in towns. There are no cities in the province, 
and only four 
towns with a 
‘population of 
above 10,000. 
The density of 
the population 
varies greatly, 
ranging from 
412 tothe square 
mile in Sylhet to 
tr in the Lushai 
Hills, with an 
average for the 
province of 109. 
As c¢c Oompa red Heathen Garo Women 
with other parts 
of India, the province is sparsely inhabited and could 
easily support a much larger population. Much fertile 
land les waste. Under a well-established government 
there is a continuous tide of immigration, the popula- 
tion is increasing and doubtless will continue steadily to 
do so. 

Hemmed in as India is by sea and the Himalayas, the 
only routes between it and the rest of Asia, practical for 
extensive immigration, lie at the northwest and north- 
east. _ From the northwest came the Aryans, and later 
the Greeks, Huns, Pathans and Moguls. Remnants of 
these tribes reached Assam, ‘‘ while from the northeast 


9 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


through Assam have come successive hordes of immi- 
grants from the great hive of the Mongolian race in 
western China.” Many, passing on into Bengal and the 
Surma Valley, became merged with the original inhabi- 
tants. But in Assam, “although in the plains large 
sections of the population, like that of Bengal, are of 
mixed origin, there are numerous tribes who are almost 
pure Mongolians; and an examination of their affinities, 
in respect of physique, language, religion and social 
customs, with other branches of the same family, forms 
one of the most interesting lines of inquiry open to 
ethnologists.” In later years there has been taking 
place a large immigration from central India, to supply 
the demand for laborers in the great tea industry. Of 
these there are estimated to be 650,000 in Assam, of 
whom much the larger number are in the upper part of 
the Brahmaputra Valley. Among them some of our 
most successful work is being done. 


THE LANGUAGE 


One of the serious difficulties in the path of the mis- 
sionary is the great diversity of languages. Says Mr. B. 
C. Allen,.in the Census Report of 1901, ~° There is prope 
ably no country in the world which affords a richer field 
for the philologist than Assam, for, though the popula- 
tion barely exceeds six millions, no less than 167 different 
languages were returned at the last census.’’ Many of 
these reported were the languages of foreigners, and 


Traveling in the Naga Hills 


10 


Miso FOND EN PASS AM 


many spoken by only a few, but after all possible deduc- 
tions have been made a bewildering number of languages 
remain. These can be conveniently divided into three 
general classes, the Bengali, spoken in the Surma Valley 
and to some extent in the lower part of the Brahma- 
putra Valley; the Assamese, the principal language of 
the Brahmaputra Valley; and the large number of in- 
digenous forms of speech belonging to the Tibeto-Burman 
family. The immigrant or tea garden people speak 
many Indian dialects, but nearly all use Hindi. In the 
Brahmaputra Valley they are rapidly acquiring Assam- 
ese, so that they are largely reached through that. 

Bengali is a Sanskritic language, spoken by more than 
forty millions of the people of Bengal. It is a language 
with a large and growing literature, both religious and 
secular. 

Assamese, too, isa Sanskritic language. This, also, has 
a literature, ancient and modern, but much more scant 
than has the similar though distinct language, Bengal1. 

The Tibeto-Burman family includes many languages, 
each intelligible only to the tribe using it. The largest 
of this family is the Bodo group, spoken by over 600,000. 
The largest tribes using uniform dialects are the Ka- 
charis, living mostly on the plains, the Garos and the 
Khasis. The other dialects are, so far as known, spoken 
by smaller numbers each. Of the Naga group Mr. Allen 
says, ‘‘ Villagers who live within sight of one another 
cannot converse, except in a language foreign to both.” 
While it is true, doubtless, that these primitive tongues 
have a tendency to die out, when brought into compe- 
tition with languages of a higher type, still they are one 
of the serious hindrances to mission work among these 
interesting, responsive peoples. We must take to them 
the message in their own tongues, for but few of them 
have more than a smattering of a mutually-used foreign 
tongue. 

RELIGIONS 

As with race and language, so with religion, Assam 

has been a battle-ground, and the results are like the 


It 


MISSTONS IN :;ASSAM 


composite photograph,— touched by all the exposures 
made. We may divide the religions found here before 
Christianity came into three main divisions: Hinduism, 
Mohammedanism and spirit-worship or Animism. The 
census of 1901 gives the numbers adhering to these reli- 
gions as follows: 


Hinds, 5G sper-cent., ar : : - 3,429,299 
Mohammedans, 26 per cent., or . ; (. AL, 58 TIeI7 
Animists;-Tysper, conercot se ; ; & 17068 R3H 


This does not include Christians and a few Buddhists. 

The people of the Surma Valley are closely related 
to the people of Bengal, and doubtless Hinduism and 
Mohammedanism there are much the same as in Bengal; 
but in the valley of the Brahmaputra their history is 
different, and so is said to be their character. . The 
people coming into the Assam Valley from the east were 
not originally Hindus, but after becoming established 
there were gradually Hinduized. Says Kev. —-Paagme 
Moore: 


Hinduism is a broad term, ranging from absolute monotheism 
on one extreme to polytheism multiplied to the 333-millionth 
degree on the other. . . . Remember that, though they call 
themselves Hindus, you will go very wide of the mark if you 
expect to find their beliefs agreeing with that of Hindus in other 
parts of India, as described in books on Hinduism. The de- 
nominations of Christians are numerous, but the differences of 
Hindus are legion. Assam is said, religiously, to have passed 
from primitive Hinduism, through Buddhism and Adi-Buddhism 
back again to Sivism and Vishnuism. There are scars of the 
fierce struggle that brought about all these changes. The 
conglomerate elements which mark the ethnic character of the 
people have their counterpart in the varied mosaics of relig- 
ious belief. 


As a class Hindus are idolatrous. Superstitious fear 
of their priests binds them with fetters of brass. Though 
confessing that lying is sin against God, they are notori- 
ous for their untruthfulness. 

Assam is a land of beauty, and one of the most attrac- 
tive parts of the whole valley is where, at Gauhati, the 
magnificent river, Son of Brahma, sweeps down between 


12 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


high hills clothed with everlasting verdure from summit 
to water’s edge, and swirls around Peacock Island, that 
emerald gem rising from the middle of the flood. Ona 
hilltop overlooking the whole beautiful scene stands the 
most famous temple in Assam, that of Kamakhya, a 
shrine of the Saktist worship, for which Assam is best 
known to the Hindu world. ‘“ One explanation of the 
Saktist doctrine,’ says Mr. Allen, ‘‘is that the lusts of 
the flesh prevent communion with God, and that the best 
way to overcome them is to indulge them to satiety.” 
Another explanation, by the president of the College of 
Pundits, Nadiya, is that “it was invented to justify the 


The Little Temple at Sibsagor 


habit of drinking which prevailed among Brahmans, 
and to enable them to compete with the secular courtiers 
in the struggle for the favor of the king.” In 1841 
Robinson describes, in scathing terms, the ritual of this 
temple: 

As soon as the well-known sound of the drum is heard, calling 


the people to the midnight orgies, the dance and the song, 
whole multitudes assemble and the crowd becomes dense. 


13 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


The women employed to dance and sing on these occasions are 
those consecrated to the service of the temple, of whom it is 
reported there are no less than five hundred. Their presence, 
together with their filthy songs and more obscene dances, form 
the chief attractions. A song is scarcely tolerated which does 
not contain the most marked allusions to unchastity, while those 
which are so abominable that no person could report them out of 
the temple receive in general the loudest plaudits. 


With such priests, is it strange that the people are 
degraded? How loud is the mute call for the purest of 
all teachings, — that of the sinless Son of God! 

Mohammedans invaded Assam in the thirteenth and 
sixteenth centuries, and in the seventeenth became 
established in Kamrup and Goalpara. On the breaking 
up of the Mogul Empire, the Mussulmans in Assam were 
cut off from their coreligionists and became lax in their 
observances and doctrines. To quote Mr. Moore: 


Many of them hold the doctrines of Islam very loosely, or are 
very ignorant of what they are. Still they present a solid front 
against polytheism and idolatry; but the vices so characteristic 
of the followers of the prophet find a fertile soil and attain lux- 
urlant growth in the Mussulmans of Assam. Although no 
hour of the day goes past without lying and deceit, if with no 
more outrageous sins, do they not pray to the prophet four times 
a day, and will he not on this account plead effectually for them 
with the one God, whose prophet he is? Works of merit, to 
counterbalance their demerit before God, are the great desid- 
erata with both Mussulmans and Hindus. ‘‘ Blessed are the pure 
in heart’ is not among their Beatitudes. 


The Animists are not idolaters. To them the forests 
and streams and caves are the abodes of countless 
malignant spirits who are always bringing evil upon 
them, and who must be propitiated with animal sacri- 
fices. Theirs is a life of fear. Their thoughts are full of 
dread of these countless’ unseen enemies. Some may 
have a belief in benignant spirits, but they give them 
little thought. Their spirit-worship is a groping after 
God and an effort to reach his ear through a vicarious 
sacrifice, a yearning which the Lamb of God must satisfy 
or it goes forever unsatisfied. 


14 


Nelo LON DUN? 75.5 AM 


WORK OF OTHER SOCIETIES* 


Besides the work of the Missionary Union work is 
carried on by three other Protestant societies. 

The Welsh Calvinistic Methodists began in 1841 among 
the Khasis, a hill tribe numbering about 178,000, and 
occupying mainly the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, next east 
of the Garos, in the central range. Their work has been 
confined mostly to this people, although recently some 
work has been begun among the Lushais, a hill tribe to 
the south, bordering on Burma, where they are meeting 
with success. They have conducted a strongly manned, 
vigorous and eminently successful mission, both evangel- 
istic and educational. The revival fires in Wales spread 
to the Khasi Hills, and thence to other parts of India. 

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel also began 
work in 1841, among a semi-hinduized Bodo tribe of the 
plains, the Cacharis, at Tezpur, in Darrang. This society 


A Typical Garo Group 


has also for several years carried on a mission among the 
immigrant or tea garden population about Dibrugarh, 
in upper Assam. They have not met with large numeri- 
cal success. In the words of the government census of 
* See article by Rev. W. F. Dowd, in Missionary Magazine for September, 
1907, page 369. 

15 


MIS So O N-6 90 Negoeoeve 


tgot, “ The efforts of the established church seem to have 
been singularly unblessed.”’ 

The German Evangelical Lutherans have in very recent 
years taken up work among the immigrant peoples of 
upper Assam. They have long carried on a successful 
mission work in central India, among the people from 
whom many of the tea garden laborers in Assam have 
been drawn, and recently they extended their work to 
Assam. Their principal work is in the Dibrugarh 
district. 

BEGINNINGS OF BAPTIST MISSIONS 


Our early Burma missionaries, in their frequent, ener- 
getic and courageous explorations, came often upon the 
hill people of the north of Burma, who attracted their 
attention. Inquiries brought from government officers 
the strongest appeals to undertake a mission among 
them. Rev. Nathan Brown, then in Moulmein, Burma, 
who seemed just the man for such work, was more than 
ready ‘for thesattempt..° In 1834 he wrote Ateree 
present time Sadiya [eastern Assam] is thus the most 
feasible entrance from the interior [of India] to the 
empire of China.’”’ Missionaries and officers and citizens 
of India approved and encouraged the project, and some 
of the latter offered large sums of 
money in aid. The Board at Bos- 
ton authorized the undertaking. 

Messrs. Nathan Brown and O. T. 
Cutter, with their families, arrived at 
Calcutta from Moulmein September 
2, 1835. With each family inea@ 
Bengali boat they began their long 
journey from the latter city Novem- 
ber 20. Their frail craft were some 
five or six feet in width and twenty 
or thirty in length, with roofs of split 
bamboo and palm leaf. They passed 
through the great delta, up the 
Hooghly to the Ganges, down that to the Brahmaputra, 
and thence upward into Assam. Sometimes their boats 

16 


A Naga Sash 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


would be whirled about and down by the current, again 
dashed and torn by wind and rain, while the river was 
filled with turtles, porpoises and crocodiles, and the 
jungle with wild ele- 
phants, rhinoceroses, 
buffaloes, deer, tigers, 
leopards, wild hogs, 
jackals). snakes, ‘etc. 
They reached Sadiya, 
March 23, 1836, after a 
tedious journey of four 
months from Calcutta. 

A school was opened 
on June 6, which within 
a week had twenty boys, 
with five learning Eng- 
lish with ‘“‘ eagerness 
truly astonishing.” Oth- 
er schools were started 
in villages two and three 
miles away, managea by 
Mr. Cutter, who visited Naga Christian Workers 
them nearly every day; and zayats were built at differ- 
ent places by the roadside for preaching. Mr. Cutter 
also managed the press and printing, while Mr. Brown 
gave his attention to the preparation of books. By 
the twentieth of June, 1838, about twenty-seven months 
after their arrival, eleven books, containing 230 pages, 
had been prepared and 4,850 copies printed, or 135,850 
pages, besides thirteen chapters of Matthew. 

The Board and the home churches followed the new 
missionaries with interest, and Rev. Jacob Thomas and 
Rev. Miles Bronson, with their wives, went out to join 
them. They reached Calcutta April 11, 1837, and fif- 
teen days later started on their long journey up the 
Brahmaputra. It was a most unfavorable time of the 
year. Their progress was slow. Malarial fever began 
to trouble them, and on June 20 Mr. Bronson was dan- 
gerously ill. Rain fell in torrents. Boatmen, unable to 


17 


Miss LOW Ss) UNG SAIS Seo 


advance, refused to move, so Mr. Thomas started for 
Sadiya, hoping to obtain medicine, assistance and more 
men to pull the boats. He approached within sight of 
his field, and within an hour of the mission house, when 
‘two trees suddenly fell from the bank with a tremen- 
dous crash across the middle of his boat, which caused it 
instantly to sink.’ The natives claimed to have done 
their most to save him, but although the water was not 
deep, he was so held that they could not rescue him. 
Mr. and Mrs. Bronson and Mrs. Thomas were brought 
to Sadiya, where Mr. Bronson wrote: ‘“‘ Thus has closed 
our voyage up this mighty river. The first part of it 
was one of constant pleasure and enjoyment; of the 
latter part, how painful the remembrance !”’ 

The following spring (1838) Mr. and Mrs. Bronson left 
Sadiya for Jaipur, a new station. Soon rumors of war 
began to fill the atmosphere. The hill tribes became 
excited, suspicious and defiant, and massacres grew 
common. Sadiya was attacked, but neither the mis- 
sionaries nor their homes were harmed. The people 
fled, however, and the section became almost deserted. 
It seemed best, therefore, to remove to Jaipur, and on 
May 12, 1839, after a little over three years in Sadiya, 
they left homes, zayats and schoolhouses, and with all 
their goods and the printing presses, moved to the new 
station and another chapter of the history was begun. 


Among the Nagas 


Jaipur had been selected because it was the head- 
quarters of the new tea industry and had a fair prospect 
of rapid growth. Chinese and other laborers were com- 
ing from Calcutta. Kamptis and Singphos were near, 
on the road into Burma. The following January (1839) 
Mr. Bronson, with his assistant, a lad from Mrs. Cutter’s 
school in Sadiya, made a trip to the Naga Hills. The 
Nagas were much excited at the approach of a white 
man, and it was three days before they reluctantly 
permitted his entrance to the village. He won his way 


18 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


into their confidence, and then returned to Jaipur, just 
in time to hear of the troubles at Sadiya. 

Early in 1840 he and his family removed to the Naga 
village, and the same year Rev. Cyrus Barker, Mrs. 
Barker and Mr. Bronson’s sister, Miss Rhoda Bronson, 
reached Jaipur from America. Miss Bronson’s service 
lasted only seven months, when she was called to her 
heavenly home. 

On account of the lack of workers, and much sickness, 
together with the smallness of the tribe, 1t was with great 
reluctance decided to give up this work among the Nagas, 
and to turn attention to the Assamese. In 1843 Jaipur 
was also abandoned. The work accomplished during 
the seven anda half years had been noteworthy. Thou- 
sands of copies of tracts and scripture portions had been 
prepared, printed in different languages and distributed. 
A few converts of the stronger and more useful character 
had been gathered and baptized. 


<a [eatt 
eranninneectt tN 


The Mission Compound at Tura 


PRESENT BAPTIST MISSION WORK 


Notwithstanding what is done by these other societies, 
the Brahmaputra Valley, with its hill tracts south, east 
and north, are largely American Baptist Missionary 
Union ground, ground which God has, in a wonderful way, 


19 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


placed in our hands, which we have attempted to cul- 
tivate and for which American Baptists ought to feel 
themselves responsible. 

In this territory we have fourteen stations: On the 
plains, beginning from the west, Goalpara, Gauhati, 
Nowgong, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sibsagor, North Lakhimpur, 
Dibrugarh and Sadiya; and in the hills, Tura, Tika, 
Kohima, Impur and Ukhrul. 

Our work naturally falls under three heads, namely, 
for the Assamese, for the immigrants, and for the ani- 
mistic aborigines, mostly hill people. 


Work for Assamese 


For many years after the early missionaries were 
compelled to leave Sadiya, and had abandoned the 
Naga Mission, the Assamese absorbed attention. Two 
things, however, have militated against very great 
success 1n the Assamese work. Assamese Hinduism, 
with its caste rules of iron, with its overbearing and en- 
slaving priesthood and with its weak conception of sin, 
has tended to make progress difficult in the winning of 
its votaries to a better faith. In addition to this, the 
small number of missionaries and native workers, and the 


Missionaries and Schoolgirls at Nowgong 


Miss Long Miss Miller 


20 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


inefficiency of the latter, untrained as they are, have 
been crippling hindrances to aggressive work. As stated 
in the Annual Report of 1907, ‘“‘ The outstanding feature 
of the Assam Mission is the continuous lack of missionary 
strength.”’ <A statement in the report of 1908 is signifi- 
cant in reference to this branch of the work: 

While work for the Assamese people is conducted at several 
stations, it is more or less overshadowed by the larger and more 


fruitful work for immigrant peoples, Garos and others. No 
missionaries give their time exclusively to this race. 


Moreover, in the fields where Assamese work exists in 
conjunction with that for other races, inevitably the 
more responsive peoples will receive the greater attention, 
and the less responsive Assamese will be neglected. But 
the work for the Assamese is not without promise and 
a degree of success. Though the converts have thus far 
been numerically few, encouraging results may surely 
be expected from: increased effort. 


Work for Immigrant Peoples 


The Immigrant work has yielded much larger results 
than has the Assamese. Not a few of the immigrants 
had received some Christian instruction in Central India 
before coming to the tea gardens of Assam, and Christian 
teachers have found them with open ears and receptive 
hearts. As a people they have seemed to be ignorant, 
but Christ is transforming them, and the outlook is 
steadily brightening. A few years ago the Christians 
were indifferent to their needs, hardly willing to make 
any real effort for their own spiritual or educational 
advancement. But -recently they have received a 
marked spiritual uplift, and this seems to have come to 
them largely in connection with their Upper Assam and 
North Lakhimpur associational organizations and meet- 
ings. They have shared in the revival influences that were 
felt so graciously in other parts of the province. This 
people, coming in great numbers as tea garden laborers 
but remaining as permanent inhabitants, will in God’s 
providence have a powerful influence on upper Assam. 


21 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


Work among this people in Assam was begun in Sib- 
sagor in 1871. It is now carried on from Sibsagor, 
North Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat and 
Nowgong, from which stations efforts are also made for 
the Assamese proper. Dibrugarh is the center of a large 
immigrant population, as it has an extensive tea industry; 
but for several years we have had no evangelistic mis- 
sionary there. The field has been looked after by Mr.- 
Petrick, in addition to his own at Sibsagor. Dibrugarh 
is a town of about 11,000 inhabitants, with no missionary 


near. 
Work for Aborigines 


Dr. Bronson gave up his work for the Nagas in 1841. 
Work for the animistic aborigines was not resumed until 
1867, when he was called to baptize and organize the 
first church among the Garos. This work is now carried 
on, in lower Assam, from Tura and Gauhati among the 
Garos, and from Goalpara among the Rabhas; in central 
Assam, from Tika among the Mikirs; and in upper 
Assam, from Impur among the Ao, Lhota, Sema and 
other Naga tribes; from Kohima among the Angami, 
Sema and other Nagas, and from Ukhrul in Manipur 
among the Tangkhul Nagas, indirectly also for the 
Manipuris. From Sadiya, the 
scene of Dr: Brown seeiies 
efforts, a work of much prom- 
ise is opening up for the Abor 
and Miri tribes of the lower 
Himalayas and the adjoining 
plains, with an unbounded 
prospect toward Tibet and 
the regions beyond. 

While the efforts for the 
Assamese and the immigrants 
are largely homogeneous in 
character, carried on from the 
same stations, through the same language and by the 
same workers, the work and plans for one field being 
equally applicable for another, it is quite different among 


22 


A Garo Earring 


“MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


these hill peoples. Though they are all spirit-worshipers, 
savages, wholly illiterate, their languages so differ and 
the tribes are so distinct that usually work accomplished 
for one tribe cannot be applied to another, save as mem- 
bers of an evangelized tribe become missionaries to the 
unevangelized. Toa large extent educational work and 
literature must be duplicated for each tribe. In reality, 
though these are all parts of our Assam Mission, so-called, 
they are in many respects separate missions, and hence 
it seems necessary, in order to make the situation clear, 
to give separate accounts, of the beginning at least, of 
these distinct enterprises. 


THE GAROS * 


The Garo work God placed in 
our hands without our seeking it. 
“It really began in 1863, when two 
Garo men, Omed and Ramkhe, 
employees in the government 
police department in Gauhati, 
came to the native evangelist 
and sought instruction in Chris- 
tiamity.. In. 1847, ine a .school 
which the government had 
started in Goalpara for a few 
Garo young men, hoping thus to 
get control of their troublesome 
tribesmen, Ramkhe had received 
an impulse Godward from a 
little Christian tract. Though 
this influence slept, it never died 
away, and ultimately brought 
this fruitage. These two soon 
became gospel messengers to 
their people, and in 1867, im- One of the first two Garo converts 
mediately after the first Garo 
church was organized by Dr. Bronson, mission work 


A For a detailed account of this work, see the leaflet ‘‘ The Gospel among the 
aros.” 


23 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


was fully taken up by locating Mr. and Mrs. Stoddard 
at Goalpara, just outside the territory of the tribe. In 
1873, because of their persistent head-hunting propen- 
sities, the Garos were definitely brought under gov- 
ernment control, and in 1877 Tura was occupied as 
a mission station and Goalpara given up as a Garo 
station. 

The Garo churches have shown, in a good degree, a 
willingness to take responsibility for their own work, 
and have developed a commendable spirit of initiative in 
carrying it on, both for their own tribe and for strangers 
far beyond their tribal borders. Even non-Christian 


A Garo Association in Session 


Garo women occupy a comparatively high position, and, 
with the new life which Christ gives, take an active part 
in Christian work. 

Although the Christians have suffered little opposition 
from their tribesmen, oppression by their landlords on 
the plains and government-forced labor in the hills have 
led to long-continued strife in the law courts, which has 
not only heavily taxed them financially, but has been 
most distracting to Christians as well as to non-Chris- 
tians. This has hindered the work and tended strongly 
to worldliness. Nevertheless the mission has prospered, 


24 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


and has fairly well-organized churches, which conduct, 
in association with the missionaries, educational and 
evangelistic work. 


RABHAS AND MIKIRS 


Goalpara was reoccupied in 1895 as a mission station 
for work among the Rabhas, a partially Hinduized ani- 
mistic tribe on the-plains, joining the Garo Hills. Not 
very much fruit has yet been gathered, but much faithful 
seed-sowing has been done. Several Christian schools 
have been established and: a number of converts have 
been baptized, so that the outlook is encouraging. 

The Mikirs, an animistic tribe of 82,000, occupy 
chiefly a hilly tract lying near our long occupied station 
of Nowgong. From an early date of the work in Now- 
gong, the attention of the missionaries was drawn to 
theme oeiosoenev..6. Fylolman, so longa District 
Secretary of the Missionary Union, joined the Nowgong 
force with his wife for work among the Mikirs. Illness 
soon compelled them to leave Assam. In 1863 Rev. and 
Mrs. E. P. Scott arrived, specially designated to the 
Mikirs, but after only two years they were obliged to 
take furlough, and soon after their return to Nowgong 
he fell;a victim to cholera. Mrs. Scott remained and 
labored for the Mikirs for a while, but was later trans- 
ferred to Gauhati. In 1871 Rev. and Mrs. R. E. Neigh- 
bor arrived at Nowgong, to take the places of Mr. and 
Mrs. Scott; but the larger part of the work in the Assam- 
ese department of the Nowgong station, together with 
the treasurership of the Assam Mission, rested upon his 
hands, and during the seven years of his service he could 
give only secondary attention to the Mikirs. At the 
end of 1875 nineteen Mikirs had been baptized, but the 
work has been inadequately sustained and the mission- 
aries have been too burdened with other duties to admit 
of vigorous prosecution. The mission could hardly do 
other than forfeit the confidence of the people in our 
purpose to work for them. In 1891 Rev. P. E. Moore, 
and in 189s Rev. J. M. Carvell, went out for the Mikir 


25 


MISS TONS LNiPA DSM 


work, and later, with their wives, opened a station 
within the territories of the tribe. Though serious illness 
has hindered, effort has been 
pushed with vigor, the con- 
fidence of the people has to a 
large degree been won back and 
a good foundation laid for 
future success. The opium 
habit among them is a se- 
rious obstacle, as it is among 
many peoples in Assam, but 
is not insurmountable by di- 
A Garo Bracelet vine grace. The lack of great 
results seems to be a _ sad 
comment on the half-hearted, intermittent work done 
for this people. 


NAGAS 


Among the Nagas in upper Assam, the division into 
many tribes and the diversity of languages have made 
work more difficult, but like the other animistic peoples 
these are welcoming the gospel. The work is responding 
to vigorous effort, and abundant results are being 
achieved. It has thus far been conducted from three 
different stations: Molung, later removed to Impur, 
Kohima and Ukhrul. 

In 1871 Rev. E. W. Clark, D.D., then in charge of the 
mission press in Sibsagor, induced Godhula, an Assamese 
Christian, a pupil of the Nowgong Orphan School of 
early days, to attempt to acquire the Ao Naga language, 
from Ao Nagas then living in Sibsagor. In October of 
that year Godhula, with his Naga teacher, visited Dekha 
Haimong, a Naga village in independent territory. In 
April, 1872, after having made several such trips to the 
hills, Godhula with his wife left Sibsagor for this village, 
_where they remained until the following November, 
when Godhula again visited Sibsagor with a company 
of Nagas. Nine related their experience and were bap- 
tized. In December Dr. Clark visited the village, when 


26 


Mio oilO NSN ASSAM 


fifteen more were baptized. In February, 1876, Godhula 
having spent much time at Haimong during the 
three intervening years, Dr. Clark again visited the 
village, and in the following March went there to live. 
Remembering the character of these warlike savages, 
among whom honor was measured by the number of 
fellow-men a man had slain, and remembering that the 
Naga villages were in constant war among themselves, 
surely, from the simple human viewpoint, Dr. Clark and 
his servant were exemplifying the motto on the Union’s 
seal, ‘‘ Ready for either,’ sacrifice or service. But they 
knew in whom they trusted, and God had nobler plans 
for them than that their skulls should decorate the walls. 
of a savage chieftain’s home. Those who have seen 
what the dwelling of a naked, unwashed Naga savage is 
like can best picture what must have been the incon- 
veniences suffered by Dr. Clark during the seven anda 
half months he shared 
with its owner the house 
of a Naga bachelor. In 
October following, with 
his native Christians and 
a company of non-Chris- 
tian Nagas, he estab- 
lished the new Naga 
village of Molung, of 
which he became a mem- 
ber, a Naga to Nagas, 
that he mightwin Nagas. 
Early in March, 1878, 
Mrs. Clark, who had 
Decuria itierica for 
about four years, re- 
cruiting her shattered 
health, bravely joined 
her husband in life with Apes Borie! 
this wild, independent people, beyond the protecting 
influence of the British flag. Dr. Clark, on making 
application for permission to live among the Nagas, had 


27 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


received the reply that if he should enter the Naga 
wilds, he must do so at his own risk, with no expecta- 
tion whatever of protection from British arms. Let 
those who would further trace this fascinating story of 
heroism, read Mrs. Clark’s account in her intensely in- 
teresting book, “‘ A Corner in India.’’ 


ers 
= Seeensses spaaganee= 


moo 
seeeegeegegeseee.. 


Naga Preachers 


The Ao Naga country has now been taken under Brit- 
ish control. Dr. Clark still (1909) labors at Impur. He 
has been joined by others, who have relieved him of the 
burden of the general work, while he is giving his time 
to literary efforts. Sometimes the pruning knife has had 
to be applied vigorously to this vine in the Master’s vine- 
yard, but the plant has been cleansed thereby and has 
only sent its roots deeper and branches farther, until 
Impur has become the center of a prosperous work 
reaching not only the Aos, but the Lhotas, Semas and 


28 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


other surrounding Naga tribes. It has bright promise 
for the future. 

In 1885 work for the Lhota Nagas, a tribe of 17,000 
situated southwest of the Aos, was opened by Dr. W. E. 
Witter and Mrs. Witter, largely through the influence 
and generous financial help of Dr. Clark. This was done 
at Wokha, then government subdivisional headquarters; 
but after a short service, though long enough to permit 
them to reduce the language to writing and publish a 
grammar, Dr. and Mrs. Witter were obliged to leave 
Assam in broken health, not to return. A promising 
field was thus temporarily abandoned, but is now worked 
from Impur as part of that field. 

The work at Kohima also was opened largely through 
the influence and financial help of Dr. Clark, whose deep 
interest and earnest, generous effort have been felt in still 
other fields in Assam. The Angami Nagas are probably 
naturally the strongest of the thirty Naga tribes in upper 
Assam. They alone, previous to being brought under 
British rule, possessed guns, made in part by their own 
smiths. Their manly figures, the fortifications of their 
villages, their stubbornness in fighting, their remarkable 
terraced cultivations, the superior weapons and agricul- 
tural implements which they used and their enterprise 
in making long trading expeditions, even as far as Bom- 
bay, marked them as indeed noble savages, though 
savages still, without civilization or even a written 
language. 

Rev. C. D. King arrived in January, 1879, and with 
Mrs. King took up work at Samaguting, the government 
headquarters at that time. Before the end of the year 
war with the Nagas broke out, and Mr. and Mrs. King 
were obliged to leave the field temporarily. The con- 
flict soon resulted in the annexation of the Angami 
country to British territory, and the location of the 
headquarters at Kohima. This is a village of about 600 
houses, situated at an elevation of about 5,000 feet above 
the sea and with a good climate. It is about fifty miles 
from the railway by a good cart road. Here the Kings 


29 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


recommenced work in February, 1881, and remained 
until December, 1886, when they were compelled on 
account of illness to return to America. A school had 
been started, but was closed for want of means. On Mr. 
and Mrs. King’s withdrawal, Rev. and Mrs. S. W. Riven- 
burg, of the Ao Mission at Molung, took charge of the 
Kohima work. No books had as yet been produced, and 
the church consisted of only seven members, only three 
of whom, one Mikir and two Angami Nagas, were resi- 
dent. Practically a fresh start had to be made. At the 
end of five years, Mr. and Mrs. Rivenburg returned to 
America on account of broken health. No additions 
had been made to the church, but Matthew, John and 
the Acts had been translated and too hymns and two 
schoolbooks had been prepared and published in Angami. 
Mr. and Mrs. Rivenburg returned to Kohima in October, 
1894, he having taken the degree of M.D. during his 
furlough. During succeeding years he has given much 
attention to medical work. 

For twenty-seven months, during the temporary 
absence of ali the Ao missionaries, Dr. and Mrs. Riven- 
burg took charge of the Ao work at Impur, and save for 
one short visit, Kohima was without a missionary. In 
1906, when Dr. and Mrs. Rivenburg again took furlough, 
leaving the work in charge of Rev. H. B. Dickson and 
Mrs. Dickson, although but few had been added to the 
church, much good foundation work had been done, 
some reliable workers had been prepared, and a good 
station school of 80 pupils had been established. Since 
then a goodly number of Angamis, Semas and Kachas 
have been baptized; the church and the school have pros- 
pered and grown; a loud call has developed for a new 
mission to the Semas; and the outlook is full of promise. 

The Tangkhul Nagas form one of several aboriginal 
tribes within the small state of Manipur, south of the 
Naga Hills District. This little dependency, whose 
capital is 150 miles from the nearest railway, and difficult 
of access, won an unenviable fame in 1891 by treacher- 
ously massacring the chief commissioner of Assam, the 


30 


MisslONS IN ASSAM 


British political agent to its own petty court, and five 
other English officers. Two months before this, Rev. 
William Pettigrew and two other young men, sent out 
by the late Mr. Robert Arthington, of Leeds, England, 
arrived in Calcutta to open work among some aboriginal 
tribe of eastern Bengal. This massacre led Mr. Petti- 
grew and one companion to make plans to enter this 
state, and they soon located near its western frontier and 
began studying Bengali and Manipuri. However, Mr. 
Pettigrew’s colleague, Rev. James Craighead, joined the 
Union. In January, 1894, the political agent, though 
not yet the government of India, permitted Mr. Petti- 
grew to enter the capital, Manipur. He could begin 
preaching at once, and soon started a school. The 
Manipuris are not wholly illiterate, but there was only 
one small and inefficient school in the whole state, and 
Mr. Pettigrew’s school soon became popular. 

It was nearly eighteen months before full permission 
was granted by the Indian Government for Mr. Pettigrew 
to remain in Manipur. He was prohibited from doing 
direct evangelistic work, and the school, which had been 
supported by the government, was taken out of his 


The Bazar at Manipur 


hands. But during the enforced waiting he had trans- 
lated and published in Manipuri, Luke, John and Acts, 
and before leaving on furlough had the joy of knowing 
that every copy was in the hands of Manipuris who 
could read them. 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


It was finally decided by the British officer acting as 
political agent during the minority of the young rajah 
that Mr. Pettigrew should have charge of the educational 
work of the state, and he was appointed an honorary 
inspector of schools, in which position he served for nine 
years. The people were without text-books, and it was 
Mr. Pettigrew’s task to prepare them. 

The Manipuris were not originally Hindus, and now 
it is said that they are not recognized by orthodox 
Hindus, but they have, nevertheless, become Hindus of 
a most rabid type. Their opposition resulted, in 1895, 
in a decision by the government of India that Mr. Petti- 
grew could remain in the state only on condition that 
he confine his mission work to a hill tribe to the northeast 
of the capital. This is a warlike, savage tribe of head- 
hunters, the Tangkhul Nagas, numbering about 20,000, 
and Mr. Pettigrew was given to understand that the 
government would not hold themselves responsible for 
any action of this wild people towards himself or his’ 
property. The question was for him to decide whether 
he would accept the risk and the challenge and alone 
take up his abode among them, people who gloried in 
taking human life and the dwellings of whose chiefs were 
decorated with human skulls, or whether he would 
abandon the Manipur State. After a tour of inspection 
he made a home in the midst of this tribe at Ukhrul, 
three days’ journey from the capital, on a mountain 
6,400 feet above sea level. In February, 1896, a month 
before taking up this work, Mr. Pettigrew was transferred . 
from the Arthington Mission to the Missionary Union. 
Thus far he had labored alone, but during the summer 
he built a home there in the mountains, and in December 
a lady arrived from England, there was a wedding in 
Calcutta and Mrs. Pettigrew has since worked with him, 
lessening his loneliness, sharing his labors and doubling 
his efficiency. For a more detailed account of their 
heroic work, see the Baptist Missionary Magazine for 
September, October and November, 1905. 

They have reduced to writing the language of these 


32 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


hillmen, established schools among them and given to 
them, as to the Manipuris, parts of the New Testament, 
schoolbooks and hymns in their own language. A 
church has also been gathered. The old heathen cus- 
toms are strong, however, and it has become a serious 
problem to impress upon new converts the necessity of 
cutting loose entirely from them all. 

It was hoped that when the young rajah of this state, 
educated by the British Government, came into power, 
he might give permission to reopen work for the Mani- 
puris themselves, but application for such permission 
has not yet been granted. For this we must wait until, 
in answer to prayer, the King of kings opens the door 
for salvation to enter. 


THE ABORS AND MIRIS 


There is yet another of this congeries of missions in 
Assam which invites our attention and interest. As we 
have seen, Sa- 
diya was occu- 
pied in 1836 by 
Messrs. Brown 
and Cutter, but 
laterabandoned. 
Work was re- 
sumed in this 
station a few 
years ago by 
men sent out 
by Mr. Arthing- 
ton. It was not 
his policy to la- 
bor long for any Miri Boys at Sadiya 
one people, but 
to deliver the message and move on. After his death 
the two able young missionaries of his mission joined 
the English Baptist Mission, and took up work in the 
Lushai Hills. After some negotiations, the mission at 
Sadiya was passed over to the Missionary Union, funds 


33 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


for its establishment being provided from the Arthing- 
ton estate. Rev. L. W. B. Jackman and Mrs. Jack- 
man were appointed in 1905, and Dr. H. W. Kirby 
and his wife joined them the next year. A medi- 
cal work which had been established by the resident 
government officer was transferred to the mission. 
While efforts are made to reach the plains people, the 
Assamese and immigrants, the missionaries plan espe- 
cially to work among the hillmen to the north, and to 
push on up towards that last great closed land, Tibet. 
As these peoples beyond the border are independent of 
British control, and are not included in the census, their 
numbers are not yet known; but there are many of them 
and they are very inviting for mission work. The peo- 
ples accessible from Sadiya are Miris, Abors, Mishmis, 
Kamptis and Singphos, besides Assamese and 1mmi- 
grants. In language the Miris and Abors can be treated, 
so far as mission work is concerned, as practically one 
people. The Miris have become partly Hinduized, 
while the Abors, the more vigorous people, are pure 
spirit-worshipers. 

Literary work has been begun in the Miri-Abor lan- 
guage, and during the cold season of 1907-8 Mr. Jack- 
man, having after considerable delay secured permission 
to cross the frontier, made two visits into independent 
territory. He received a most friendly welcome, and 
invitations were given by two tribes to visit them again 
the following season. Later visits have strengthened 
the pleasant relations thus begun, and the way now 
seems open for advance among these strong hill tribes. 

Situated as it is near the best pass and the probable 
future road into Tibet, and not far from’ West China or 
from the tribes reaching into North Burma, Sadiya 
stands at the entrance to great fields untouched by the 
gospel, and to which the Master bids us go forward. 
There is much land to be possessed, and is not the prom- 
ise of Joshua ours? ‘‘ Be strong and of a good courage. 
. . . Every place that the sole of your feet shall tread 
upon, to you have I given it.” 


34 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


ORGANIZATION 


The converts in our Assam Mission are organized into 
churches, which on the older fields to a good degree have 
pastors and are self-supporting. These churches are 
organized into associations: the Garo Hills, the Kamrup, 
the Upper Assam, the North Lakhimpur and the Naga 
Hills associations. The annual meetings of these are 
rallying points, where the whole forces, through their 
delegates, take stock of munitions of war, plan the cam- 
paigns for the new year, and strengthen one another for 
the conflict ahead. 

The missionaries are organized intoaconference. This. 
meets biennially for spiritual refreshment, mutual en- 
couragement, discussion of matters of deep interest to 
the mission and planning for the advancement of the 
work. This, with its committees, has rendered valuable 
service in unifying and developing the mission. 


EVANGELISM 


Proclaiming and imparting the gospel is the great aim 
of all departments of the work. Whether the mission- 
aries preach in the market-place, teach school or develop 
industrial plants, there is the one aim, to help the people 


<I] pear 
coo 


Preaching in the Bazar at Nowgong 


35 


MISS TON STNG TASS SAM 


to know Christ and him crucified. Hearts changed 
through the entrance of the gospel of Christ are the 
ground from which the best fruits of Christian civiliza- 
tion must grow. 

Evangelists are maintained, some by use of foreign 
funds, more by funds supplied by the churches, especially 
by funds contributed by the Christian women. But a 
greater number of evangelists should be trained, and still 
more should the Church be aroused to pray the Lord of 
the Harvest to thrust forth the laborers and to fill with 
the Spirit those sent out. Many of the small tribes in 
and about Assam await the evangelists from the tribes 
already partly evangelized. A wide field lies open, 
which has hardly been touched. 


EDUCATION 


Educational work has been conducted by the mission 
from the first. The missionaries are irresistibly drawn to 
this work,—forced to it by the circumstances and needs 
of the situation. The animistic hillmen are found with- 
out even a written language, and the immigrant peoples 
are almost equally illiterate. We must educate before 
some of the best means of evangelizing and of building 
up the evangelized can be utilized. In this education, 
among these backward races, the missionary has been 
found to be the most efficient agent. Not only must 
facilities be supplied, but the people must be stimulated 
to use them when supplied, and the missionary is the one 
best qualified to administer this stimulant. Thus edu- 
cation goes hand in hand with evangelization. In fact, 
mission education in Assam is emphatically and effi- 
ciently evangelistic: the Christian school, taught by the 
Christian teacher, has been the nucleus around which 
has so many times sprung up the Christian community 
and the Christian church. 

Most of the education is primary, aiming in the vil- 
lages to give, besides religious instruction, a workable 
knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic. In addi- 
tion to these primary schools, there are five training 


36 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


schools, at Tura, Impur, Kohima, Ukhrul and Jorhat, 
respectively. Until recently a school has also been 
maintained at Goalpara, whose aim was to train 
workers for the Rabha work. In all of these schools the 
Bible has been regularly taught. The Jorhat school 
aims principally to prepare pastors and evangelists for 
their work. In the others effort has been rather to 
respond to the demand for a more general education, and 
not only to prepare teachers for the primary schools, but 


C—— Seat it ea oo 
G , x %, o 


Schoolboys at Tura 


to lay the foundation for larger educational develop- 
ment. Recently a normal department has been added 
to the Jorhat school, to train teachers for the village 
schools. On the Tura field, at least, the urgent need is 
being felt by missionaries and converts of a theological 
school for the special training of pastors and evangelists. 

Primary education is obtained by the girls for the 
most part in village schools, where they study with the 
boys. Among the Garos at Tura and the Nagas at 
Impur coeducation is conducted in the training schools, 
with satisfactory results. 

For the peoples of the plains a very prosperous and 
successful advanced girls’ school is maintained at Now- 
gong, which in recent years has grown in popularity and 


37) 


MISSIONS IN. ASSAM 


efficiency. The religious revival which in 1905 greatly 
blessed the work in several of the valley fields was spe- 
cially marked in this school, and has wrought great 
changes in the lives of the girls, resulting in a deepening 
of spiritual life and experience, a more complete surrender 
of life to Christ than was known before, a hungering for 
Bible instruction and a deep desire to impart to others 
the unspeakable riches in Christ which they themselves 
have received. Of this Miss Long writes: 


Through the revival our school has touched hundreds of lives. 
In the coming years it is bound to touch many more. . . . Op- 
portunity calls loudly at our door. . . . Women are asking for 
Bible instruction; children knock at our doors for admission, 
If these women can be trained, the children gathered in and 
taught and won for Jesus, a band of workers that will win 
thousands to Christ will be the rich reward for the kingdom of 
God. 


The efficient workers come, and for the most part must 
come, through the schools. Hence the necessity for 
mission schools has been recognized and magnified from 
the beginning. An orphan school was started about 
1844 by the mission at Nowgong, and for ten years pros- 
pered, but a deputation from America in 1854 disap- 
proved and its discontinuance resulted. In view of the 
need then felt by the workers on the field, and in view 
of the fact that a number of the most efficient native 
workers in different parts of Assam in the first generation 
of mission work were trained in that school, deep regret 
has been felt through all these years that the school could 
not have been continued. 

In view of the secular education given, the government 
has been very ready to grant financial aid to these 
schools, especially those among backward races. The 
native communities are urged to remember that this 
work is theirs, and to bear what they can of the burden 
of it. At least among the hill tribes, they build their 
own school and church buildings, save in the mission 
stations; and, at least among the Garos, they contribute 
towards the support of the teachers. 


38 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


INDUSTRIAL WORK 


Industrial work has been undertaken in connection 
with the Tura and Jorhat training schools, in the former 
a cotton ginning establishment being conducted, while 
in the latter carpentry is taught. 
The immediate object in both 
cases is to give the pupils oppor- 
iiniyeebor carn their support 
while pursuing their studies. It 
is believed that a young man 
who earns his way through 
school is better qualified to be- 
come an efficient helper of his 
people than one who has been 
carried through by outside help. 


LITERATURE 


Christian literature is one of 
God’s greatest gifts to the Church 
and one of the most efficient and 
necessary means in the establish- 
ment of the Kingdom. The obli- 
gation to supply it rests upon 
the missionaries. But the diffi- % 
culties in the way of producing Cotton Ginwing ehrure 
Such’ literature in Assam are 
great. The diversity of languages requires the dupli- 
cating of the work for the different fields, and all of these 
languages, save the Assamese proper, have had first to be 
reduced to written form. Furthermore, very few of the 
workers can ever give to literary work more than rem- 
nants of time and strength, after other demands have 
been: met. 

The Bible has been translated and published in Assam- 
ese, the New Testament and Genesis in Garo and parts 
of the New Testament in Mikir, Ao Naga, Angami Naga, 
Tangkhul Naga and Manipuri. Text-books have been 
written and published in all of these languages. A good 
beginning has also been made in the Miri-Abor. Some 


39 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


of the scripture versions have been revised, as also some 
of the text-books, and printed in repeated editions. 
Some Sunday school literature has 

enon been published, as lesson leaflets 
gw oN in Assamese, and the Blakeslee les- 

son series on the Life of Christ in 


™) 
O 
Bea, 


Re) “2 Garo. Hymns, catechisms and 

S3 S$ % tracts have been published in 

= > 62 several languages. 

e) S = The Orunodoy, or Star of the East, 
ae C8 FS was issued monthly in Assamese 
BON S 


for a good many years. Later its 

ce & place has been taken by the Dzptt. 

g5So° The little Garo monthly, Ackitknit 

Ripeng, or Garo’s Friend, is now in 

its twenty-ninth year and has been 
most helpful. 

It is self-evident that much more needs to be done in 
producing a wholesome, stimulating, morally elevating 
literature for these peoples just emerging from heathen- 
ism, and many of them from savagery. It must be done, 
if they are to be developed as they should be. They will 
read. ‘There is an abundance of evil literature. We 
must see that there is a supply of the wholesome and 
helpful. 


A Garo Necklace 


MEDICAL WORK 


Medical mission work is loudly demanded on such a 
field, especially among the spirit-worshipers. <A great 
part of their worship has been with the aim of escaping 
from sickness and physical ills. When they abandon 
heathenism, they still look to their religious teachers 
for help in times of sickness. Much has been done by 
the medically uneducated missionary. Now we have 
medical missionaries in Tura, Sadiya and Kohima. Mr. 
Pettigrew, of Ukhrul, took some studies in medicine 
during his last furlough and has a dispensary. Dr. Cro- 
zier in Tura has succeeded in making his medical work 
practically self-supporting, save for his own salary. He 
has a good hospital, and is assisted by Miss Robb, a 


40 


MISSIONS IN ASSAM 


trained nurse, so that the work has been put upon an 
efficient working basis. 


THE NEED FOR REENFORCEMENT 


More than eighty years ago we felt called to locate our 
missionaries in extreme upper Assam. We rightly inter- 
preted these calls as voicing God’s call. The purpose 
was to reach the tribes there, the Shans in upper 
Burma and the peoples of western China, but Providence 
turned us back towards the peoples of Assam. We then 
thought Assam a strategic point for the conquest of 
greater countries. So it was, and as time passes its 
strategic position is becoming even more evident. From 
Assam we can make effective flank movements to join 
our forces working northward in Burma and westward in 
China, and make a direct movement on Tibet; and 
Indiaward we can help to solve the problems of India’s 
crisis. What a splendid opportunity! But to make 
these advances effectually we should do more to take 
Assam itself. Our representatives, who stand in closest 
touch with the needs of Assam, have been pleading for 
more workers during all the years past, and these pleas 
have been reiterated by the Executive Committee, but 
they have met too inadequate a response. Are there not 
redeemed lives to be invested to meet some of these 
needs? What, for instance, of the work at Gauhati, 
where one man and wife and one single woman stand 
alone in a town of 14,000 people, with a large Garo 
community to the south and 400,000 people to the north, 
many of them promising aborigines, people to whom the 
door has been open and practically unentered for eight 
decades? Or Nowgong, or the immigrant work of upper 
Assam, where more help is imperatively demanded? 

There are indeed many loud calls, at home and abroad, 
but surely the churches have abundant ability to respond 
to all. So shall the danger of condemnation before the 
Master’s throne be exchanged for exultant realization of 
the joy in well-invested lives, and in results for the 
establishment of Christ’s kingdom on the earth. 


41 


MES SiO-N > ENe Aton eM 


Roster of Missionaries to Assam 
Complete to May 1, 1909 


Abbreviations: m., married; * deceased while in service; + retired from the 
mission and still living (1909); {retired from the mission and since deceased. 


NAME DaTE OF ARRIVAL 
*Amy, Miss Waura Al (metRever|ovle Caryell)ic. a 0unu ese Wee notes nnn CSCS 
* Barker, REvs Cyrus. easy strides Bae ce eo. ee es ee ee ae 
tBarker;. Mrs: JanesWeston sneer: “ons fe oss 6) ae ee ce ot eT ee 
Boggs; Rev:.S.A°6D eae pcre meiartn vole sacs: <2) Weisser Se ES 
Boggs, Mrs.) IsadorevWinitneyue cme. fs es et, tinct eal 
Bond,. Miss Ella Coe rewemeen ey Atos Ce a et Re et ec ee ee TCS 
Bowers, Rev. A.C. .. :; soae. s/n AR ee eee eee 
Bowers, Mrs. Florence G. Halll hay se 5 eo utak uae TO 
+Brandt, Miss Anna V. (m. Rev. R. Maotecden, of South India) ps 1881 
*Bronson, Rev. Miles (m. Mrs. F. A. S. Danforth; Miss Mary D. Raaiinl 1836 
* Bronson, Mrs:-Ruthe Mel sCaStaiaesn: sme. ieee ene me eres 
* Bronson; MissuR hodavMsayyce sien eas oe ee a So er 
* Bronson, \Miss:Maria Scan waw ems bere tues me. st mite Oe rons ny eee 
tBrown, Rev. Nathan .. . sialg totes Se “alps Schon eas eis pos ace be en EC 
tBrown, Mrs. Eliza W. Ballard eAree, yO et yO eee 
+Burdette, Rev. C. E. (m. Miss Miriam Ruseeliy oh St Ue i: See, OR Seo 
Carvell, Revs JicMes(mesMisstvatira Ay Amy.) ce) eee) ee eee re cee 
Carvell,-Mrs.Alice®Ma.Parker aye... 2 6, Ge ch Ue hae td ee TS 
Clark, .Rev. ESWiAce ree cose ueetn is bo eo.) nas Boks wae ee 2 ac ia TCL 
Clark; Mrs>: Mary; Mead fecpaneeen ten sr 
tComfort;("Revi: MisBi eye ol is ie Pest eee 
tComfort, Mrs. Jennie E. : APE COO 
tCraighead, Rev. James (as Miss Ta nti Kishore of Burial oe ies eC Se 
*Craighead = Mrs.2 ida sis amm ei ris v cope. so neue ce Nz, a mn an foe 
Crozier; -Rev.. GEG. Dites ee at eso ei eee eee nee 
Crozier; “Mrs: Mabel <Boswortiteews #00... oh scien: met os een ne 
Tt Cutterpevirs Olle BN tect 7: ide tick: Sone. SE eee ee ee 
tCutter, Mrs. Taree B. Taw APA EE RR Fe es A be See 
*Dantotthaieva. Acs cee eee < oles eo 
*Danforth, Mrs. Frances A. Studtey ‘enn ee Miles Bipnenie aoe dy. ee OeOR 
*Dauble, Rev..G. Gn MisssMieS* Shaw )) 0s ce steerer en red 
{Daniels, Miss Lolie(m. RevsAs JA Parker). 3:0 e elect oops ae 
Dicksony) Reve bee MOTE eh es Se Po a lS OS 
Dickson, Mrs. Eleanor A. MeAfes A ee eee ee ee PRES 
Dowd, Rev. W.F. . Te A Prete 
Dowd, Mrs. Muriel A. Massey SR LETS SRE Bet Sele a meee aCe nee SCE 
Dring, Rev. William ... RP eer ME) Cre PAP R A eet MERU Me ce TSS 
Dring, Mrs. Esther Sianneed Pe RP ee ee Shere ee re em SS is | eS 
Firth, Revs John 02 okay «oe, Can aol ene ee 
Firth, ‘Mrs. Ida‘ 0 450 0 2 PR er 
Gurney, Rev. A. K. PMOL Na eer PES OLR A A 
Gurney, Mrs. Mary. F.:Lawreneé i: 2) <2 Se see cs ee 


Aa 


Milo ahON) ENA SSA M 


NAME DaTE OF ARRIVAL 


tHaggard, Rev. Fred P. 

+Haggard, Mrs. Fannie L. Snow . 
nilallatieleev sec A seats res fe 

tHallam, Mrs. evans A Heepsor 

Harding, Reve 2.0We) 0. : 

Harding, Mrs. Nellie M. coe 

Holbrook, Miss Linnie 

Jackman, Rev. L. W. B. 

Jackman, Mrs. Susie D. Ransom i 
*Keeler, Miss Orrell C. (m. Rev. M. C. Mneens 
PMc wREVss Lee PR ees 
+Keith, Mrs. Pollie Ke é 

+King, Rev. C. D. (m. Miss Atte M. Sweet), 
Kirby, H. W., M. D. (transferred from Africa) . 
Kirby, Mrs. Mary E. Reeves ae 
*Klein, Rev. F. W. 

}Klein, Mrs. Jennie J. Teuhehaty 

Long, Miss Anna E. : 

Longwell, Rev. R. B. ies 
Longwell, Mrs. Bernie Balenane : 

Loops, W. A., M. D. (m. Miss E. Vincy Breston’ of ‘eouth teciae 
Loops, Mrs. E. Vincy Preston . 


Mason, Rev. M. C. (m. Miss Orrell C. Weeslen: Miss Nettie Purcell) 4 


*Mason, Mrs. Fidelia Howes 

*Mason, Mrs. Clara M. Arthur 

Mason, Rev. W. C. 

Mason, Mrs. Florence N. Sh 

+Mason, Miss Stella H. . 

Miller, Miss Ella G. ‘ 
Moore, Rev. P. E. (m. Mise C. E. sparse . 
Moore, Rev. P. H. . , 
Moore, Mrs. Jessie Traver 

+Morgan, Miss Henrietta . 

tMunger, Rev. I. E. Nea Sas 
*Munger, Mrs. Helen W. iene F 
+Neighbor, Rev. R. E. .. . 

tNeighbor, Mrs. Anna M. Bell 


+Parker, Rev. A. J. (m. Miss Lolie Dadialé: Mies Iiberte Sere 


Paul, Rev. Joseph . 

Paul, Mrs. Clara E. 

yPerrine, Rev. S.A... 
+Perrine, Mrs. Rosie L. . 
iPetricksskRev. Ca ly, ae tienes 
Petrick, Mrs. Clara Stengel . 
Pettigrew, Rev. William 
Pettigrew, Mrs. Alice Goreham 
Phillips, Rev. E.G. .. 
Phillips, Mrs. Ella V. Haves 


43 


1893 
1893 
1891 
1891 
1907 
1907 
1906 
1904 
1904 
1875 
1871 
1871 
1878 
1906 
1906 
1890 
1890 
1900 
1906 
19006 
1905 
1906 
1874 
1874 
1884 
1902 
1903 
1888 
1902 
1890 
1879 
1879 
1895 
1896 
1896 
1870 
1870 
1898 
1894 
1894 
1892 
1892 
1889 
1889 
1896 
1896 
1874 
1874 


MESS LON S*-ENe ASSAM 


NAME DATE OF ARRIVAL 


Protzman, Miss Helen M. : 

Purssell, Miss Nettie (m. Rev M. C. Miseony | 

*Purssell, Miss Charlotte E. (m. Rev. P. E. Moores® 
*Rankin, Miss Mary D. (m. Rev. Miles Bronson) . 
Rivenburg, Rev. S. W., M.D. . , 
*Rivenburg, Mrs. Hattie E. Tiffany 

Robb, Miss N. Agnes 

tRood, Miss Alice J. . 

tRussell, Miss Miriam (m. Rey, C. E. Burdetter™. 

ESCO Cin cien > ane mne 

tScott, Mrs. Anna H. Kay, M. D. Wennantad: to China i in gaat 
tShaw, Miss M. S. (m. Rev. G. Dauble) Ae ease 
Stephen, Rev. A. E. 

Stephen, Mrs. Maggie Systane: 

+Stoddard, Rev. I. J. an: 

+Stoddard, Mrs. Drusilla Allen. 

*Sumner, Miss Alberta (m. Rev. A. J. Perens 

Swanson, Rev. O. L. ae Soe rae 

Swanson, Mrs. Hebe Wenberes bor a OF eC are 
tSweet, Miss Anna M. (m. Rev. C. D. pea 

*Thomas, Rev. Jacob 


{Thomas, Mrs. Sarah M. Willsey (a eu S. M. Gamo of Burke} 


+Tolman, Rev. C. F. ies 
{Tolman, Mrs. Mary R. Braveens 
Tuttle, Rev. A. J. ee ‘ 
Tuttle, Mrs. Byaricss ke Desdon ; 
*Ward, Rev. William 

*Ward, Mrs. Cordelia S. 

*Ward, Mrs. Susan R. 

+Wherrett, Miss Gertrude 
tWhiting, Rev.S.M. .. 
tWhiting, Mrs. Elizabeth Flint 
Wilson, Miss Isabella 

T Watters Rev VW) ee eens 
+Witter, Mrs. Mary A. Potter . 

Th abes- uVLiss Nora yl 


834-1 Ed.-5 M-June, 1909. Price 10 cents. 


44 


1907 
1885 
1887 
1872 
1883 
1883 
1907 
1894 
1878 
1862 
1862 
1850 
1893 
1894 
1847 
1847 
1896 
1893 
1893 
1875 
1836 
1836 
1858 
1858 
Igo! 
I901 
1850 
1850 
1860 
1900 
1850 
1850 
1895 
1883 
1883 
189Q1 


